ArcelorMittal, BE create joint venture in Sweden

ArcelorMittal, through its steel service center subsidiary SSC Sverige, and BE Group have finalized on Friday the creation of a joint venture (50/50) to serve the Swedish market with processed flat carbon steel. The deal is subject to a review by the competition authorities.

The combination of the ArcelorMittal SSC Sverige facility, located in Karlstad, and of the one belonging to BE Group, in Borlänge, forms the third biggest actor on the Swedish market, with a market share of 20 percent, shipments of 120,000 tonnes and a turnover of more than 80 M euros. This JV contributes to the necessary consolidation of this sector.

Through this acquisition, the conditions for long term development are created on the sizeable Swedish market.

The ambition of the joint venture is to:

·   grow on the Swedish market

·   develop services to the customers and thereby increase added value

·   increase efficiency in a bigger structure

·   strengthen and stabilise profitability in the long term

ArcelorMittal SSC Sverige is a facility processing 60,000 tonnes of cut-to-length and slitted products, including IB Andressen in Denmark, for general industry, automotive, construction and stockists. It employs 34 persons.

BE Group is one of Northern Europe's leading trading and service companies within steel, stainless and aluminium, processing also near 60,000 tonnes of cut-to-length and slitted products, mainly for general industry. This facility employs 29 persons. It is recognized for its excellent service and quality.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is the world's number one steel company, with 320,000 employees in more than 60 countries. The company brings together the world's number one and number two steel companies, Arcelor and Mittal Steel.

ArcelorMittal is the leader in all major global markets, including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with leading R&D and technology, as well as sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and outstanding distribution networks. An industrial presence in 27 European, Asian, African and American countries exposes the company to all the key steel markets, from emerging to mature, positions it will be looking to develop in the high-growth Chinese and Indian markets.

ArcelorMittal key pro forma financials for 2006 show combined revenues of U.S. $88.6 billion, with a crude steel production of 118 million tonnes, representing around 10 per cent of world steel output.

ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MTP), Brussels (MTBL), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS).